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The critters have been spotted at The Park At River Walk and they've been gnawing and chewing at trees.

The city is wrapping trees with plastic netting to prevent beavers from taking a bite, but they can't wrap every single tree, Cox said.

In 2007, beavers destroyed several trees along the Kern River bike path. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials issued a kill order, which many people in the community supported, but the order was later revoked.

"They caused damage of about $4,000," Cox said.

Cox said he didn't want to sound like a bad guy, but that beavers are a nuissance. Maybe if killing them wasn't an option, "we can raise money to relocate them into the wild," he said.

The body of a large paddle-tailed rodent was found early Tuesday in the traffic lanes of southbound Mohawk Street north of Truxtun Avenue, suggesting Bakersfield's fabled bike path beaver -- scourge of local saplings -- may have died.

The lush grasses and sweeps of wildflowers cloak much of the damage to the small canyon in a blanket of ephemeral green. But Ellen Cypher and Erin Tennant can see it as they walk along a sandy route that has been churned into the bottom of the wash by motorcyclists and quad riders.

Even Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez's self-serving, disingenuous and downright contemptuous ranting against a proposed ban of Piccolo Pete and ground flower-type fireworks wasn't nearly as stunning to me as Supervisor David Couch's silence and eventual vote against the ban.